Question

Why did some people in the eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism?

Answer 1

Hint: The Age of Enlightenment was an era where there was a growth of scientific and intellectual movements and there was a development of rational thoughts during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Complete answer: European thinkers of the 18th century were of the thought that with the development of print culture the despotic rule will come to an end and the wave of enlightenment will flourish. Reformers like Louis, Sebastian, Mercier and Martin Luther felt that the print culture is the most powerful weapon of progress and it will become the voice of the public and hence would definitely bring an end to despotism. There was a tremendous increase in literacy rates. In the seventeen and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates went up and by the end of the eighteenth century, the literacy rates were as high as 60 to 80 per cent. The periodical press started to develop from the early eighteenth century. The ideas of philosophers and scientists now became more accessible to the common masses as well. Ancient and scientific texts were compiled and published and maps and diagrams were widely printed. Thinkers like Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques were widely printed and read. Thus their ideas about science and rationality were present in these texts. Books were a medium of spreading progress and enlightenment which could change society and the world. It was also believed that the books could also liberate the society from the clutches of despotism and tyranny.

Note: With the invention of the printing press the writers thought that it could lead Europe to the path of Enlightenment and could end the despotic rule that was prevalent in Europe.